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Vocket TcLiagOLi^icdl Library, U^o. 2. 

ESSAY 

ON THE 

PHYSIOLOGY OF WRITING 



BY / 

DOCTOR JAVAL 

Engineer of Mines 

jMcnibcr of the Academy of Medici >ie 

'^ice-President of the Paris Circle of the Instruction Leagut 

Laureate of the Institute {Montyon Prize) 

Chevalier of the Legion of Honor — Officer of Public, 

\ y ^ Instruction 



^'k 



WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON 
59 FIFTH AVENUE 

J^EW York City 



K. 







CorvKKiHT, i8g4 
B\ William Beverley Hakison 



PREFACE. 

This slight addition to the bibhography 
of Vertical Writing will give teachers 
information as to the movement in 
France, this being the authorized report 
of the Commissioners appointed to 
examine into the subject. John Jackson, 
in his "Theory and Practice of Hand 
writing" (a history of the vertical writing 
movement), has given very clearly the 
history of the movement in Germany 
and England ; this pamphlet completes 
the account, as these countries are the 
principal ones where the revival has 
become general. Dr. Javal seems to 
hold the theory that sloping writing is 
more rapid ; this has been conclusively 
proven a fallacy, as notably rapid penmen, 
Thomas A. Edison and others, use the 
vertical because of economy in time 
and space. 



ESSAY 

ON THE 

PHYSIOLOGY OF WRITING 



VERTICAL WRITING AND SLOPING WRITING. 



Summary: Introduction — I. Historic Review 
— IL Modern Writing of Adults — III. The 
Writing of Children — IV. Transforma- 
tion of Vertical Writing into Running 
Hand; — Conclusion. 

INTRODUCTION. 

A series of articles published in the 
Revue Scientifiqiie^ having come under 
his notice, the Minister of Public In- 
struction, by order of June i, 1881, ap- 

* Javal, Diseases of the eye and the use of glasses, Sept. 
27, iSyg; Public and private lighting^, from the point of 
view of the hygiene of the eyes, Oct. i8, 1879; Books and 
myopia, Nov. 22, 1879; Mechanism of writing, May 21, 



8 Essay on the 

pointed a Commission, composed of M. 
Gariel, Gauthier-Villars, Gavarret, G. 
Hachette, Javal, G. Masson, de Mont- 
mahon, Panas and Perrin, " to examine 
into the causes of the increase of myopia 
among school children, and to point out 
the remedies for a condition which is 
daily growing worse." 

The Commission set to work at once, 
and, after examining important docu- 
ments, a large number of which were 
taken from the Musde PedagogiquCy 
after consulting with competent authori- 
ties, and sending a sub-committee to 
examine into the mode of life in various 
schools, intrusted Dr. Gariel, engineer 
of the Ponts et Chaussees, Professor of 
Physics in the P'aculty of Medicine of 
Paris, with preparation of a full report 
of its work. 



PJiysiology of Writing. 9 

The Commission, without neglecting 
the questions of lighting, school fur- 
niture, typography of school books, 
adopted the formula of George Sand 
that I had brought to light, and came to 
this conclusion : t/iat if the Adiiiijiistra- 
tion adopt vertical zvriting for young 
'childreji tJie principal cause of ncarsight- 
edjiess will have disappeared. 

The following is the text of the report: 

"The Commission think that great 
progress will be made by exacting, ac- 
cording to Mme. G. Sand's formula, 
vertical writing on straight paper^ the 
body erect. 

" Thus both scoliosis* and myopia will 
be avoided together. It is not denied 
that the idea of insisting upon the sub- 
stitution of vertical writing, in the place 



* Curvature of the spinal column. 



10 Essay on the 

of sloping writing for children, will ap- 
pear strange at the first glance ; but 
search has been made in vain for sound 
objections which could be opposed to 
this proposal, which has the further 
advantage of rendering the characters 
more legible, a fact of which every one 
can make sure, as we ourselves have 
done. It must be mentioned also that 
when the child becomes an adult and 
wishes to use the running hand, which 
allows greater speed and straighter lines 
on unruled paper, he need only incline the 
paper to the left. But, in any case, the 
solution recommended of placing the 
body perfectly symmetrical, parallel to 
the edge of the table, the paper in front 
of the body, should avoid the lateral 
malformations which are now so fre- 
quent; making the normal position of 



Physiology of IVritirig. 1 1 

the head natural will prevent its coming 
continually nearer the paper. Conse- 
quently, it is thought that should the 
Administration adopt this conclusion, 
the principal cause of myopia will have 
disappeared. 

" Doubtless a pupil may hold himself 
badly even while having the paper 
straight before him and writing without 
slope; but, at least, he can hold himself 
well, whereas with the present way of 
teaching, the perpetual admonitions of 
the most careful teachers break down in 
the face of physiological impossibilities." 

These conclusions, published in 1882, 
have been adopted in several foreign 
countries. 

In France, they remained a dead let- 
ter. 

However, a Commission of forty mem- 



12 Essay on the 

bers, appointed by letter of January 24, 
1882, was directed to study the hygienic 
conditions of the primary and infant 
schools.* It assigned to a sub-commit- 
tee the examination of the subject of 
the hygiene of sight ; this sub-committee 
adopted the conclusions of the special 
Commission of 1 881, in full, and pro- 
posed the following resolution, which 
was passed in full session : 

" During the elevicntmy coui'se and the 
intermediate eonrsey children shall be 
obliged to eonfonn to the formula of Mine. 
Sand, VERTICAL writing on straight 

PAPER, THE BODY ERECT." 

Some impatient spirits may think, 
perhaps, that in ten years the Adminis- 
tration might have been able to con- 

* Hygieni- of tlie p7-i»ia7-y scJtools. (ieneral report by 
Dr. Javal. National Printing Establishment and Masson's 
bookshop, Paris, 1884. 



Physiology of Writing. 1 3 

orm to the advice of the Commissions, 
md to make obligatory the teaching of 
j/ertical writing. 
! Such is not our opinion. 

In a country so strongly centralized 
IS France, the central power should 
i)nly act with extreme moderation, and 
* he Direction of Primary Instruction 
jias done well to limit itself at first to 
luthorizing vertical writing in the 
jchools. It is for us to convert the 
eachers to our opinion. 
I' The hope of succeeding in this was 
he cause of our thesis being presented 
o the Academy of Medicine, in 1892. 
\fter the state of the question had been 
;et forth, the objection raised by routine 
igainst the adoption of vertical writing 
n the schools was once more refuted. 
The following is an extract from the 



14 Essay 071 tJie 

report of the session of January 26, 
1892: 

'' The reason for opposing the adop- 
tion of vertical writing in France is the 
greater slowness of writing in this way. 
And yet, as far back as 1881,* I pointed 
out the simple means of teaching run- 
ning hand quickly to children accus- 
tomed to writing without slope, and, a 
little later,! I published a physiological 
analysis of the movements of the hand 
and fingers in the act of writing. 

" It follows from these studies that 
there are two kinds of writing : viz., 
witJi the finger uioveinent and with the 
arm or freehand. The fingers alone are 
used in the former, whereas the wrist 
plays an important part in the latter. 

* The mechanism of writing. Revue Scienti/iouc, May 2, 
1881, vol. XXVII., p. 647. 
+ Javal. On writing, Societe dc Biologie^ Nov. 24, 1883. 



PJiysiolcgy of Writing. 15 

The slope is useful only in freehand, 
whether round or angular. Hence, it 
is unreasonable to teach freehand to 
young children, since it is not possible 
to teach them to write from the wrist. 
They must be taught first to write with 
the fingers and only advance to the 
freehand when they begin to write on 
unruled paper. Then make them incline 
their paper to the left, and the slope 
will follow as a matter of course. 

" Moreover, to be convinced that the 
^natural tendency of children is to write 
vertically, it is enough to give specimens 
of writing to very young children to 
copy. If permitted, the majority of 
them will not imitate the slope of the 
copy; it is only necessary to say noth- 
ing to them to have them adopt vertical 
writing. 



1 6 Essay on the 

" It remains for me to apologize for 
having brought before the academy a 
subject of apparently very small impor- 
tance. I will remark, however, that in 
case of war, especially in firing at long 
range, the condition of soldiers' sight is 
not without importance. 

" Disraeli said to the English Parlia- 
ment: Poivcr belongs to the most vigor- 
ous, the most numerous, and tJie best 
trained nation. 

"It is not the province of the acad- 
emy to consider the subject of popular 
education ; as for numbers, the recollec-' 
tion of the discussion on depopulation 
that I called forth, following the reading 
of a paper by M. Lagneau, is not yet for- 
gotten. To-day, I wish to call attention 
to a question of physical fitness, which 
will certainly not be unappreciated by 



Physiology of Writmg. 17 



:our associates of the army and espe- 
cially of the navy." 

I This communication to the Academy 
of Medicine made a certain stir, and 
! gained a sufficient number of adherents 
jto warrant the thought that the time 
'has come to publish a statement of the 
1 mechanism of writing for the use of pro- 
fessors and directors of schools. Indeed, 
I it is important that competent men be 
able to understand for themselves the 
reasons which have convinced the Com- 
missions successively appointed by the 
Minister of Public Instruction. 



Essay on the 



HISTORIC REVIEW.* 

We will now jmss rapidly in review 
the material causes, which, independ- 
ently of fluctuations of taste and syste- 
matic returns to antiquity, appear to 
have exercised a marked influence on 
changes in writing; these causes are va- 
riations in the price of paper, the trans- 
formation of the pen, the use of glasses, 
and the haste which characterizes the 
present time. 

The price of paper has played a very 
important part in changes of writing; 
so much so that we see, at the same era, 

* Among- the sources whence the elements of this 
review have been drawn, should be mentioned a manu- 
script of Poujade, from lheTaui)ier collection, which is in 
our possession, and which contains the biojjraphies of a 
number of |)cnmcn. 



PJiysiology of Writing. ig 

the running hand employed on the papy- 
rus of the manuscripts, while on the 
parchment of the codices only closely 
written uncials, crowded together, so to 
speak, are used ; no tails, that the lines 
may be brought closer together, abbre- 
viations of every kind, to save the pre- 
cious skin ; nothing is neglected to make 
the most of the space. 

The invention of rag paper dates only 
from the XIII century ; hence, with 
very rare exceptions, the habit of leav- 
ing wide spaces between words did not 
make its appearance until much later; 
for the same reason, long tails are rela- 
tively recent ; no person being rich 
enough to allow himself to imitate the 
luxury of the long letters which charac- 
terize the writing of the Pontifical Court. 

The price of paper has been reduced 



20 Essay on the 

more than that of any other article. The 
result is that now, writing no longer 
takes account of the space used. But, 
while in the XIX century the waste of 
paper does not affect the writer, it is far 
otherwise with the publisher ; this waste 
increases with the size of the edition, 
and this circumstance suffices to explain 
why, since the invention of printing, 
while writing has become constantly 
larger, type has decreased gradually in 
size, so that any sort of identity between 
written and printed characters lasted 
very few years after the invention of 
Gutenberg. 

* * 

The pen has influenced notably the 

appearance of writing. We see the 

goose-quill make its appearance towards 

the middle of the VII century ; this in- 



Physiology of Writing. 21 

novation scarcely changes the character 
at all. In fact, in imitation of the cala- 
mjiSy the quill was cut very broad, like 
those that are still used for gothic or 
round hand ; its elasticity served some- 
times to accentuate more strongly the 
top of the strokes, as may be remarked 
in certain English manuscripts of the 
VII century, sometimes to swell the 
middle of the stroke and to give to the 
letters a similar appearance to that of 
the Roman capitals ; but, in the main, 
the general appearance remained the 
same as in the manuscripts written with 
the reed of the ancients. 

The breadth of the nib of the calamus 
and of the quill exerted a determining 
action upon the division of the heavy 
and fine strokes in the uncials, and 
this action is reflected in the Roman 



22 Essay 07t the 

capital. In fact, in order to obtain 
greater speed, the librariiLs of antiquity 
and the monk of the middle ages endeav- 
ored to write the characters with a sin- 
gle stroke. Again, to avoid the un- 
graceful slope of the running hand, the 
elbow must be held well out ; in this 
position, if an M be written, it will be 
noticed that the fine strokes are made in 
ascending and the heavy in descending ; 
if an O be written, making the first 
heavy stroke lower and the second 
higher than they should be, for sym- 
metry, cannot be avoided. Nothing is 
easier than to multiply these examples. 

It was the square form of the nib of 
the quill which gave birth to gothic 
writing; for proof, it is only necessary 
to try to make gothic letters with a brush, 
a pencil, or an ordinary pen ; in spite of 



Physiology of Writing. 23 

all the efforts of the writer, the result 
will be very inferior to that easily ob- 
tained by means of a broad-nibbed pen. 

The use of the broad-nibbed pen, cut 
obliquely, marked an advance which is 
shown by the appearance of the free- 
hand and la bdtai'dc. 

In round hand, the heavy strokes are 
exactly vertical ; according to the 
penman, by taking for the unit the 
width of the nib of the pen, the letter 
7L would be inscribed in a square, of 
which the side measures five nibs, in 
such manner that the space between the 
two uprights measures three nibs. The 
difference between the letters ii and n 
is almost insignificant ; the uprights 
equally square on top are a little more 
rounded at the base for 7/ than for n. 

The flowing hand only differs from 



24 Essay on the 

the round by the inclination or slope 
which, in the most beautiful models, is 
that where the stroke forms the diagonal 
of a rectangle, of which the breadth is 
three nibs, and the height four nibs; 
whence it follows that the length of the 
uprights is K3'' -1- 4'= ^25=5. Hence 
it is seen that the length of the uprights 
of a flowing hand, written between lines 
four millimetres apart, is equal to that of 
the uprights of a round hand between 
lines five millimetres apart. 

La butarde differs principally from the 
flowing hand in the position of the 
rounded j^arts, which, instead of being 
entirely at the base of the uprights, is 
distributed as in small italics or modern 
P2nglish. 

Finally, the pointed cutting of the 
quill gave birth to the English or angu- 



PJiysiology of Wj'iting. 25 

lar hand so universally used in our day; 
it is distinguished by the length of the 
looped letters, and by the total absence 
of heavy ascendants, which cannot be 
made with our sharp steel pens ; the 
spread of the English hand is the con- 
sequence of the invasion of the steel 
pen. 

Since the beginning of the century 
the use of the pencil and more recently 
that of the American stylograph, which 
gives neither coarse nor fine strokes, has 
''caused us to prefer a handwriting having 
all strokes of the same size. It is the 
writing of the future. It results partly 
from the present nature of the steel pen, 
3f which the slit serves only to facilitate 
:he running of the ink. Inversely, this 
5imple type of writing leads manufac- 
;urers to furnish us with pens which 



2^ Essay 07i the 

allow of writing, without any pressure, 
pens midway between the broad-nibbed 
pen of the round hand, and the elastic 
and pointed pen of the quartermaster i 
sergeant. 

* * 
The invention of spectacles, or convex 
lenses, which dates from the end of the 
XIII century, has contributed power- 
fully to the decrease of the size of 
writing, for, before this invention, it was 
necessary to write large under the pen- 
alty of being illegible to old people. 
The great spread of myopia, particularly 
among educated people, must have acted 
necessarily in the same direction, so that 
the nearsightedness of some, by allow- , 
ing them to write smaller than they 
should, could promote nearsightedness ! 
among those forced to read their writing. 



Physiology of Writing. 2J 

\ It is possible that this double action 
if myopia and convex glasses has 
i early reached its maximum, for the use 
If convex glasses has become an essential 
art of everyday life, and myopes begin 

use for writing concave glasses, 
i/hich will remove the influence of their 
*:iyopia. 

1 * * 

' Finally, haste, which is one of the 
haracteristics of the XIX century, has 
j ad the effect of bringing the form of 
he letters to the greatest simplicity, by 
oing away with flourishes; people who 
/rite fast and well do not waste their 
ime in forming irreproachable heavy 
nd fine strokes, by means of changes of 
ressure on the pen, and they write 
loping for the reason that will be given 
resently. ^*.^ 



28 Essay on the 

This very incomplete sketch* was, 
necessary to show through what evolu- 
tion we have passed to reach the rapid 
and sloping writing so generally used; 
in our day. 

The history of the return to vertical 
writing for children is much shorter j 
it begins with Guillaume and Fahrner, 
in 1863. Notwithstanding the efforts of 
Gross, Ellinger and many others, the 
campaign in favor of this writing came 
to nothing, less from the opposition of 
routine, than because its promoters ex- 
ceeded moderation, and favored the 
adoption of vertical writing without any 
restriction. They missed the physio- 
logical explanation of the advantages of 

* For further details, see our articles on the physiology 
of reading, in the Annales d'oculistique^ 1880. 



PJiysiology of Writing. 29 

oping writing, for adults, who are under 
le necessity of writing very fast, and 
jiey were not wise enough to limit their 
'smands to the adoption of vertical 
riting, for children. Nor did they know 
iDw to explain the manner in which the 
jiange from the one to the other can be 
|isily made. 



30 Essay on the 



MODERN WRITING OF ADULTS, 

When children are taught to write, 
it should not be forgotten that they arc 
destined to grow up ; but at the same 
time this teaching should not be directec 
as if all the scholars were intended t(^ 
become copying clerks. The writin< 
that is taught them should be legible 
when they shall have left the primary 
school, and it is advisable that, in addii 
tion, it should become, without too greal 
trouble, rapid and elegant for those whd 
are to adopt the liberal professions 
Writing should not be taught in the 
same way in the primary schools and ir 
the high schools. 



Although departing somewhat fronll 
our object, which is the teaching ojc 



^ Physiology of Writing. 31 

writing in the primary schools, we are 
^oing to explain with some detail the 
jiechanism of writing among adults. We 
• ave followed in this study the method 
^'/hich should guide all those who 
^idsh to formulate rules to be followed 
)'i the proper execution of the bodily 
)|xercises. This method consists in ob- 
serving the mode of working of the most 
I ifted persons, who, either by natural 
ptitude or by tradition, possess excep- 
onal skill. 

Let us then examine the movements 

f a skilled writer; for example, those of 

\ recording secretary of the Chamber of 

)eputies, who, while looking constantly 

bout him, writes out on the spot the 

lalysis of the proceedings in a fine, 

!| oping regular hand, sufficiently legible 

d)) be perfectly clear to the printers. 



32 Essay oji the 

First of all a continual oscillation of' 
the entire hand will be noticed; it is the' 
wrist joint which makes a movement of' 
extension for each up stroke, and a' 
movement of flexion for each down* 
stroke; furthermore, the three fingers' 
which hold the pen, make at the same' 
time movements of extension when the' 
wrist extends, and of flexion when it 
draws back; these movements of the' 
fingers have the effect of diminishing 
slightly the slope of the up strokes 
and more that of the down strokes. 
The fingers make still other little move-' 
ments to complete the form of certain let- 
ters and to raise the pen. The most rapid 
and most regular writing is that which 
reduces to a minimum the movements' 
of the fingers and relies to the utmost 
upon the wrist motions, which by their' 



PJiysiology of Writing. 33 

sochronism and identity are a measure 
)f celerity; these motions of the wrist 
orm a kind of vibration, of absoUitely 
egular quivering, which is produced 
vithout fatigue and, it might be said, 
nvokmtarily. It is, so to speak, the 
oundation of rapid writing; but on this 
novement must be grafted various other 
oovements whose use is to shape the 
'.ifferent letters. The movement in 
uestion gives sjDced and regularity; the 
ther movements give legibility. 

But the motions of the wrist and fin- 
ers, assisted, with some people, by a 
lotion of the arm lengthwise to form 
le long letter, would only allow of writ- 
Jig in one spot; there must still be a 
lovement of conveyance of the whole 
and along the line. How is this con- 
syance effected? This is a point 



34 Essay on the 

on which special stress must be laid. 
The skilled writer, if he have forgot- 
ten the precepts of his writing master, 
leans his elbow on the edge of the table; 
so that as long as he writes on a narrow 
sheet, the elbow rests absolutely im- 
movable, and the line of the writing is 
not a straight line, but an arc of a circle 
having for its radius the length of the 
forearm, increased by that of the hand! 
and the part of the pen which extendsui 
beyond the fingers. To prove this, after 
being comfortably placed for writing, 
put the point of the pen on the begin 
ning of a line and move the forearmjie 
round the elbow, taken as a centre ; the f 
pen will trace on the paper an arc of aiiii 
circle of so great a radius as to coincide iri 
with a straight line parallel to the uppeilici 
edge of the sheet. This immobility oj cc 



Physiology of IVritijig. 35 

be elbow is favorable to rapidity of 
writing, for the rotation of the forearm 
» made gradually without requiring the 
iast time, while a stop is caused nec- 
ssaXily when the arm is wholly dis- 
laced^ to move the pen along the line. 
Uiother advantage of this system is 
hat the straightness of the line is pre- 
erved automatically, so to speak; with 
le elbow well supported, nothing is 
asier than to write perfectly straight 
'ith the eyes closed. 
, The use of the elbow as a pivot brings 
30ut other consequences. The first is 
|ie oblique position of the paper adopted 
1^ all rapid writers, the diagonal which 
ins the upper right to the lower left 
>rner of the paper being almost perpen- 
cular to the edge of the table. The 
i cond is the slope of the writing; when- 



^5 Essay on the 

ever the line that is being written is 
perpendicular to the forearm, the move- 
ment of the wrist produces necessarily a 
slope which should be greater than 45"', 
if the motions of the fingers and the 
movements of conveyance of the hand 
have not reduced it considerably, par- 
ticularly on the down strokes. 

The o-raphic method enables us to an-i 
alyze the motions of writing; put on the 
wrist and little finger of the writer a 
bracelet and a ring, to each of which a 
pencil is attached. While the pen traces| 
the writing which is the resultant, thesCi 
pencils trace on the same paper the, 
movements of the forearm and hand, 
which are the components. 

With the position of the arm and of 
the paper just described, the down strokes 
take naturally a position nearly perpen- 



PJiysioIogy of Writing. 37 

dicular to the edge of the table. Hence 
it follows that, in order to write without 
slope, the skilled writer who holds him- 
self as indicated, has only to place the 
sheet straight before him; at once the 
movements of the wrist of which we have 
spoken will cease to produce the slope, 
and without any practice he will write 
vertically with sufficient speed and quite 
involuntarily; the only difficulty is that 
for each word, and even several times 
in a somewhat long word, it becomes 
necessary to move the forearm and, in 
consequence, the arm toward the right; 
otherwise his lines will rise as do those 
of very many people who persist in 
holding their paper straight before them 
as they were taught in their childhood. 
In observing the method of skilled 
writers — it is not that of the penmen — 



38 Essay on the 

we arrive at this conclusion, that it is 
necessary to incline the paper toward 
the left at an angle almost equal to the 
slope of the writing, and that the writ- 
ing must slant. It is for greater clear- 
ness that we have supposed the elbow 
to be supported on the table ; a part 
only of the forearm can be used without 
inconvenience ; although having no 
point of support, the elbow can serve 
l^erfectly as a fixed pivot for the move- 
ments of the forearm. 

It must be admitted at once, with re- 
gard to the attitude of the body, that 
the position that we adopt is not entirely 
without its disadvantages; although it 
permits of writing with closed eyes, one 
looks willingly at one's work, and it is 
even necessary to do so to place the dots 
and the accents. Now, for very com- 



PJiysiology of Writing. 39 

plex physiological reasons, the eyes are 
so constructed that it is disagreeable to 
them to look along oblique lines ; conse- 
quently, persons who write as we advise, 
are irresistibly led to lean the head to 
the left, in order to put the two eyes 
and the line of the writing as nearly as 
possible on the same plane; this is a 
slight inconvenience for adults, with 
whom deformations of the body are no 
longer to be feared. 

A very widespread fault in writing, 
arises from the use of dots on the is and 
of accents. Most persons do not wait 
for the word to be finished to put the 
dots, the accents, and the crosses to the 
fs, A series of inconveniences come 
from this. First, an interruption of the 
stroke, which should unite in one group 
without stopping, all the letters of the 



40 Essay on the 

same word. Again, a very considerable 
delay, for it takes more time to stop, dot 
an i, and take up again the regular mo- 
tion of the pen, than to make two or 
three down strokes. Finally, many per- 
sons, especially in Germany, do not 
raise the pen to dot the /, cross the /, 
or make certain accents, whence come 
strokes that connect the accents to the 
letters, and interfere greatly with legi- 
bility. 

Others working rapidly, scatter dots 
and accents hap-hazard, while with the 
system we advocate, these signs are 
always put in their proper places. 

The penmen advise not putting the 
accents and dotting the ts until the 
word to which they belong is finished; 
this is a difficult habit to inculcate in 
children and one which they do not 



Physiology of JJ^'rithig. 41 

often keep up. It would be better to for- 
bid entirely the use of dots and accents 
while writing and insist that they be 
not placed until subsequently, in reading 
3ver — whereas the punctuation should 
be done with great care in the first 
olace. By this system one can write 
/ery rapidly and regularly. If writing 
:or one's self or for the printers, it is 
entirely useless to add dots and accents, 
A^hich are only to render writing legible, 
n spite of its faults, and to people hav- 
ng little education. By suppressing 
lots and accents it is easy to take notes 
)f a lecture currentc calaiuo, to write 
)ut the entire proceedings of the most 
mimated discussion, and all these signs 
ran be added on reading over leisurely, 
ir they can be put in by a secretary. 
rhis system presents also the very great 



42 Essay on the 

advantage that a glance will show 
whether a page of writing has been re- 
read or not ; it is written evenly and 
quickly, and its legibility is increased 
afterwards, without loss of time, on re- 
reading, by adding the dots and accents, 
of which good manners forbid the omis- 
sion, except in writing reserved exclu- 
sively for one's own personal use. 

Speed exacts next that the heavy 
strokes be produced by a very slight ex- 
penditure of strength, and rather by the 
breadth of the pen than by pressure, 
l^ens with fine and extra fine points 
should be rejected, and those of medium 
nibs adopted. 

Rapidity excludes unnecessarily long 
tails ; this is no evil, for the caprice of 
fashion alone hinders them from being | 
considered as ungraceful as they are in i 



Physiology of Writing. 43 

reality ; in beautiful flowing hands the 
long strokes have a total dimension 
which hardly exceeds twice the size of 
[he body of the letter. 

Finally, in order to write rapidly, it is 
important never to need to raise the 
oen, which causes considerable loss of 
:ime. Now, if it be desired to write in a 
:ontinuous stroke, it will be noticed that 
5even letters necessitate the lifting of 
:he pen ; it must leave the paper before 
:he letters a, c, d, g, 0, q, in the middle of 
:he letters a, g and </, and after q and s. 

A great number of faults of writing 
spring from connections which are 
idopted to avoid these breaks in con- 
:inuity; let these connections be intro- 
luced wherever possible, by forming the 
"ound part of the letter a by means of a 
/ery open sort of ^% and let the same 



44 Essay on the 

system be applied to o- and q, and here 
are four letters which will be made 
by a single stroke of the pen (^Jackson 
System). As for s let the connection 
be authorized and it will take a form 
analagous to an e reversed, easy to 
write rapidly and not to be confused 
with any other letter. 

To sum up, if it be wished that a man 
of the liberal professions have a good 
handwriting when he shall have left the 
benches of the lyceum, he must be 
taught, at a given period, such a hand- 
writing as will not be distorted too dis- 
agreeably by rapidity. If very great ce- 
lerity is sought, this writing will be 
sloping, written on inclined paper, and 
its mechanism will rest on a regular 
tremulous movement of the wrist. 

* 
* * 



I PJiysiology of Writiiig. 45 

i All the preceding applies to freehand 
^vriting, in which the motions of the 
vvrist play a preponderating part, writ- 
Ijig of which the principles have been 
perfectly laid down by Taupier and by 
Grimal. If the methods of these pen- 
men be fallen into an unmerited obliv- 
ion, it is because they were wrong in 
wishing to apply to the teaching of 
children principles with which they had 
succeeded in rectifying the writing of 
adults destined to become copying 
clerks. They forgot that the immense 
majority of the people have no need to 
write at great speed. Let the people as 
a whole write quietly and legibly, and 
let the methods of Taupier and Grimal 

be reserved for the virtuosi of the pen. 

* 

The principles of writing with the fin- 



46 Essay on the 

ger movements are very different. 
Methods are not lacking in which direc- 
tions can be found for holding the pen 
so as to write round hand, flowing and 
butardc. We only say in passing that, 
among these styles of writing formed 
by means of pens with broad, straight ' 
nibs, there is one unnamed, which ap- 
pears to us preferable to all ; it is a 
round hand in which the ;/ differs from 
the // as in the bdtardc and in which the 
Vs, Us, etc., will be looped. This writ- 
ing done with a pen of medium nil), 

should become the national haiuhvritijig. 

* 

After having frankly made known the 
reasons which lead some people to pre- 
fer sloping writnig, we are gomg to 
demonstrate that, for children, the 
teaching of vertical writing is preferable 
in every respect. 



Physiology of Writing. 47 



THE WRITING OF CHILDREN. 

It cannot enter the mind of a reason- 
able person to wish to teach to a child 
six years old, who does not yet know the 
form of the letters, the very complicated 
mechanism of which some grown-up 
people make use in order to write rap- 
idly. Moreover, should this be desired, 
his organization is not adapted to it, for 
his forearm being very much shorter 
than that of the adult, the rotation round 
the elbow would cause the pen to trace 
an arc of a circle differing widely from a 
straight line, and his writing is much 
too hesitating to be able to make use of 
the tremor of the wrist. These move- 
ments then must be given up, the child 
allowed to move his entire forearm at 



48 Essay on the 

almost every letter, and to make use ' 
almost solely of his fingers in moving 
the pen : he must be left to himself in 
this respect. 

On the other hand, ruled paper is 
always given to children, no reason ex- 
ists for the inclined position of the copy- 
book : the straightness of the lines is 
assured by the ruling, and is not to be 
obtained by the rotation of the forearm 
round the elbow. The copy-book is 
placed, then, straight before the child. 

It has been said already that, even for 
the adult accustomed to sloping writing, 
vertical writing is a consequence of hav^- 
ing the writing book straight. To prove 
that it is the same with the child, make 
him copy some sloping writing : if left 
to himself, his copy-book being straight, 
he will write vertically in spite of the 



I Physiology of Waiting. 49 

ilope of the model. Why counteract 
his natural tendency ? Give him mod- 
els of vertical writing, he will copy them 
nore easily, which is no evil, and in 
vriting vertically^ he will tJie inoj'c 
villingly hold himself straight, which 
ends to avoid curvature of the spinal 
:olumn, or scoliosis, and above all myo- 
pia, which is often recognized as the re- 
mit of a bad position while writing. 

If, disregarding the instinctive ten- 
lency of the child, which is good, it be 
lesired to teach him sloping writing, 
wo solutions present themselves: copy- 
)ook inclined to the left or copy-book 
;traight. 

When the inclined position of the 
:opy-book is directed, the oblique posi- 
ion of the lines induces the inclined 
position of the hand, which reacts by 



50 Essay on tJie 

degrees on the attitude of the whole 
body. The copy-book turned obUquely 
to the left has the effect of bendino: the 
head toward the left and the rest of the 
body follows the movement to avoid a 
too great bending of the neck, and to 
throw the centre of gravity to the right, 
so much so that the copy-book held 
obliquely brings about scoliosis with left 
concavity, as noticed thirty years ago. 

When, on the contrary, a sloping hand 
written on a copy-book placed straight 
is exacted, teachers demand what is con- 
trary to nature; it is not enough to place 
the elbow against the body; it must be 
put into the body, and the unhappy 
scholar is forced to hollow his right side 
to give room for his elbow, which leads 
him to drop his right shoulder and to 
bear all the weight of the body on the 



Physiology of Writing. 5 r 

eft buttock, which causes a scoliosis 
vith a right concavity. An eminent 
vriting teacher praised this attitude to 
IS in the presence of the Commission 
ippointed by the Minister of PubUc 
nstruction. Our reply was topical: 
l^ut turn around, if you please, and you 
vill have your reply !" The celebrated 
)enman had himself a fine curvature of 
he spine which, seen from the back, 
ssumed the form of the letter C; the 
ight shoulder was much lower than the 
2ft. 

lUit scoliosis is a relatively insignifi- 
ant evil; what is more serious is that 
'Oth the foregoing attitudes press the 
ead forward, after a few minutes, and 
his by a mechanism of which the de- 
cription would take up too much space 
ere, and against which the exhortations 



52 Essay on the 

of the most attentive teacher would be 
necessarily of no avail. 

The physiological mechanism by which 
sloping writing is a cause of scoliosis and 
of myopia has been shown elsewhere * 
in detail; reference can be made to it 
and the numerous authors who have 
written on this subject, above all in 
Germany, can be studied. It is enough 
to reproduce here photographs showing 
the positions acquired in either class of 
work. Herman Kohn, on the hygiene 
of the eye, (Vienna, 1892, Urban and 
Schwartzenberg, publishers. See front- 
ispiece). 

According to Kohn, Schubert took 
two groups of ten pupils in two classes 
in the same school in Nuremberg; the 

* Java). Vicious attitudes of scholars. Revue d'hygiene, 

1881, pp. 500 and 570. 



PJiysiology of Writing. 53 

scholars in the first group wrote sloping; 
those of the second group had practiced 
vertical writing for a year. We are as- 
sured that the experiment was faithfully 
made. We believe it, but even if it 
should have been a little exaggerated 
for the needs of a subject of which M. 
Schubert is one of the most ardent and 
intelligent champions, it is none the 
less certain, from our own personal 
observations, that the attitudes are in 
all countries much better among chil- 
dren practicing vertical writing. 

i}:- 

As far back as the year VIII Francois 
de Neufchateau, Minister of the Interior 
(at that time there was no Minister of 
Public Instruction), did not consider it 
beneath his dignity to publish a method 
of Iviaching reading by writing, and he 



54 Essay on the 

recommended that a good handwriting 
should not be insisted upon at first. We 
think with him that ihcjiist stage oi the 
teaching of writing should consist in 
making the pupil trace legible letters, and 
in leaving him free provisionally from 
rules for holding the pen. But as, in this 
respect, he should not be allowed to con- 
tract bad habits, it is best to make him 
write with chalk on a blackboard, which 
is also to be preferred for the preserva- 
tion of the sight. 

The second stage, in our opinion, should 
be writing with a pencil, less because 
this process avoids inkblots than for the 
reason that the pencil writes in any po- 
sition : it is one difficulty less, and noth- 
ing compels the pencil to be held in the 
inclined position, which is necessary for 
the proper use of the steel pen. Only 



Physiology of JVritiiig. 55 

those pupils should be allowed to write 
with ink who shall have made sufficient 
progress to justify this step, which will 
be given them as a reward. 

As a third stage we should be tempted 
to recommend a kind of modern round 
hand, written with a pen having a 
straight broad nib, held quite vertically; 
we should even be willing advocates of 
exercises written with a double pen, as 
a means of forming the habit of bearing 
equally on both nibs of the pen. 



56 Essay on the 



TRANSFORMATION OF VFRTI- 

CAL WRITING INTO 

RUNNING HAND. 

At what age and to what extent should 
sloping writing be adopted ? It is hard 
to say precisely. However, it will be 
said that the use of ruled paper is al- 
most a necessity when writing without 
slope; hence whenever the writing ought 
to become very rapid, and the use of 
ruled paper is given up, it seems well to 
abandon vertical writing. Experience 
alone can indicate the most opportune 
moment, which for the great majority 
of scholars will never come. For those 
whose profession will consist principally 
of writing, the change will often come 
of itself : prevent its use among very 



Physiology of Writi7ig. 57 

small children, and scoliosis will have 
been suppressed entirely, and the num- 
ber of myopes notably diminished. 

As for the means of effecting the 
change, they will vary a little with the 
age at which it is desired to be made. In 
fact, a good many adults who write pass- 
ably fast make no use of the wrist mo- 
tions, although writing sloping, and on 
the other hand it is possible to write 
vertically while making use of these 
motions. There is no absolute correla- 
tion between these two terms, sloping 
writing and the use of the wrist motions. 
The question of knowing at what mo- 
ment it is important, first, to teach the 
motions of the wrist, and second to give 
the slope to the writing, remains an 
open one. It is not even known if the 
two changes of system should be made 



58 Essay on the 

at the same time. This question pre- 
sents Httle interest for the pupils in 
rural schools who can, without incon- 
venience, keep to vertical writing and 
finger movements. It is entirely differ- 
ent for scholars whose education should 
be pushed much farther, for if the teach- 
ing of the freehand to these be too long 
delayed, there is danger that the princi- 
ple can no longer be inculcated in them, 
and that then, continuing indefinitely 
to use the finger movements, they will 
retain all their lives one of those hand- 
writings in which irregularity is not re- 
deemed by rapidity of execution. For 
such, it seems wisest to teach success- 
ively vertical writing with finger move- 
ments, then vertical writing with arm 
movements on ruled paper, as a prepara- 
tion for sloping writing. 



Physiology of Writing. 59 



CONCLUSION. 

There is no doubt : 

That the very rapid writing of adults 
should be sloping, the paper being in- 
clined. 

That the writing of children should 
be vertical, the copy-book being held 
straight. 

That the adoption of vertical writing 
at the beginning presents no obstacle 
to the ulterior use of sloping writing. 



Those who know our efforts to have 
vertical writing adopted in primary 
schools will experience some surprise at 
seeing us accept sloping writing for 
adults in the liberal professions. Our 
answer is that nothing is attained when 



6o PJiysiology of Writi7ig. 

too much is demanded. To those who 
write rapidly, with slope, and who derive 
benefit from it, it will be difficult to 
prove that they are wrong, when they 
are right. To wish to force all to write 
vertically would be as absurd as to make 
young children write with a slope. Our 
hope of bringing about the adoption of 
vertical writing in the primary schools 
rests exactly on the distinction, subtle 
in appearance, but founded on physi- 
ology, that we have shown between the 
mechanism of a child's writing and that 
of the freehand writing of adults. 



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